ddeuddeg

I know it's off topic, but one of our fellow wooters, the very lovely Michelle Sisk (aka michelleshari), and her mom are participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer this weekend in the Rocky Mountains. They've both met their personal goals, but their team, and the cause, could still use some support. You can find them here: Solo Strutters

Always keep a bottle of Champagne in the fridge for special occasions. Sometimes the special occasion is that you've got a bottle of Champagne in the fridge. - Hester Browne
Filmmaker/winemaker Francis Ford Coppola says his two professions are almost the same and that each depends on source material and takes a lot of time to perfect.
The big difference: "Today's winemakers still worry about quality."

MarkDaSpark

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

MarkDaSpark

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

MarkDaSpark

Nope, no reflied beans with the thrice. Just wedding cake after the thrice ....

x20

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

necyclone

Great game last night and a perfect night for ball- (took my son) Its going to be a little sticky here tonight. Your other option after the game is the Old Market area. lots of food and wine choices- great walking area- easy walk to hotel if you are at Hilton or one of the other DT hotels. ENJOY! go WC Bulldogs!

woopdedoo

dfvlee

CTmasterblender wrote:There are so many factors that go into producing a bottle of wine. I produce bottles of wine from $14 to $85 a bottle retail. If you’re in the bulk juice market, you can cut out a lot of costs and can provide wines at a better price. If you had to produce the wines from start to finish you have a lot more costs. Here is a Napa Valley breakdown: custom crush fees (if you don’t own you own winery, which also carries a little cost to it) $35 - $50 (goes as high as $150) a case, 50% new oak (American $10, French $20), Fruit - Napa Average Cabernet $69 a case (2007 Napa Valley average was $4,300 a ton), packaging $15 a case (very basic), bottling $4-$6 a case, winemaker if you need one $20 (low to mid range) a case. This doesn't count the costs of money being tide up for 2 years, traveling, marketing, samples (for trade and personal consumption once you figured out what you just got yourself into...), health insurance, life insurance....(all this can add up to20% to 30% of sales) say $40 a case (20%). This is working at par. Here is the tough part, most people look at these costs and look at it from a retail perspective and we all wish we could sell everything at retail! But, in the real world, most of the wine is being sold at FOB to our out of state markets, which is 50% of retail. Put these costs together and you have roughly $204 in per case or $17 per bottle which translates into a $34 retail, $204 FOB. You still haven't factored in making a profit on all your work and travels. I’m not trying to be a syndic, but I like people to understand what goes into a bottle of wine. On the bulk side, you buy juice, blend and may need to do a little winemaking, bottle it and start selling – fun and straight forward.
This obviously all depends on quantity of scale, but it's pretty accurate for the small producer of 7,000 case and under.

CT absolutely nails this on the head and wooters, this level of info usually doesn't leave the office. You're getting a very good picture of the cost of making wine, albeit from a negociant POV.

The only real difference for us, we have eliminated the custom crush fees (but spent $$$ on property and equipment, but now it's an asset) and we "buy" fruit from our own vineyard (that we set up as a separate entity) and our fruit costs are 1/3 of what we'd pay for Napa fruit. The biggest cost increase I have seen in three years is freight. We eat shipping on winery-direct wholesale in CA, the wholesalers eat it out of state. We charge exact shipping on consumer-direct (freight plus cost of materials). Some wineries make a little money on shipping, but my guess is fewer are doing this these days. We actually offer free shipping on a case (12 bots) in a few states and it's been popular.

clayfu

dfvlee wrote:CT absolutely nails this on the head and wooters, this level of info usually doesn't leave the office. You're getting a very good picture of the cost of making wine, albeit from a negociant POV.

The only real difference for us, we have eliminated the custom crush fees (but spent $$$ on property and equipment, but now it's an asset) and we "buy" fruit from our own vineyard (that we set up as a separate entity) and our fruit costs are 1/3 of what we'd pay for Napa fruit. The biggest cost increase I have seen in three years is freight. We eat shipping on winery-direct wholesale in CA, the wholesalers eat it out of state. We charge exact shipping on consumer-direct (freight plus cost of materials). Some wineries make a little money on shipping, but my guess is fewer are doing this these days. We actually offer free shipping on a case (12 bots) in a few states and it's been popular.

the people making money are those damn packing and shipping companies. Worse than ebay!

dfvlee

I went to Cal Poly and support Big West baseball. I was set to go to FSU out of high school, but changed my mind and went to Cuesta and played baseball for a full season, hurt my shoulder in summer ball and decided that a career in wine was the next best thing to playing ball

ddeuddeg

I've already posted this on the labrat report page, but in case you haven't found that yet:

Checking in with a preliminary labrat report on the 2004 Merlot (at least that's what it said on the label):
I know it's not even 4:00 in here in Buffalo, but the wine has been here over an hour now, I've got it cooled down to a proper drinking temperature, and I can't wait. I'm even waiving my customary "refusal" to drink alone. I just poured a bit into a nice big glass, swirled it around a few times, and I'm looking at the color. Even in such a small amount, there's a big, deep, rich garnet color. I look at the label again. It still says Merlot.
I detect a faint hint of alcohol on the nose, with pepper and plum. With just a sip, the alcohol recedes to the background, and there is plenty of flavor to replace it. Cherries, plums, still some pepper, maybe even a little vanilla. OK, now I'm looking back at the specs on this beauty, and I find 9% Cab. Doesn't seem like enough to give it all that structure. It must be that these winemakers know where to grow Merlot grapes and how to make a really good wine from them. Mind you, I've never been a Merlot-hater ("I'm not drinking any effing Merlot"), but those who think they are should try this.
I have to go finish getting dinner ready (an alfresco repast of curried chicken salad with grapes, celery, and sliced almonds, while waiting for the curtain to go up on King Lear). I had a different wine in mind for that, but this one should do nicely.
I'll be back later with more on this wine, but if you're still on the fence, you've got less than 9 hours to get down and push the buy button.

Always keep a bottle of Champagne in the fridge for special occasions. Sometimes the special occasion is that you've got a bottle of Champagne in the fridge. - Hester Browne
Filmmaker/winemaker Francis Ford Coppola says his two professions are almost the same and that each depends on source material and takes a lot of time to perfect.
The big difference: "Today's winemakers still worry about quality."

deejanke

boaz38

DonaldWilliams wrote:I've already posted this on the labrat report page, but in case you haven't found that yet:

Checking in with a preliminary labrat report on the 2004 Merlot (at least that's what it said on the label):
I know it's not even 4:00 in here in Buffalo, but the wine has been here over an hour now, I've got it cooled down to a proper drinking temperature, and I can't wait. I'm even waiving my customary "refusal" to drink alone. I just poured a bit into a nice big glass, swirled it around a few times, and I'm looking at the color. Even in such a small amount, there's a big, deep, rich garnet color. I look at the label again. It still says Merlot.
I detect a faint hint of alcohol on the nose, with pepper and plum. With just a sip, the alcohol recedes to the background, and there is plenty of flavor to replace it. Cherries, plums, still some pepper, maybe even a little vanilla. OK, now I'm looking back at the specs on this beauty, and I find 9% Cab. Doesn't seem like enough to give it all that structure. It must be that these winemakers know where to grow Merlot grapes and how to make a really good wine from them. Mind you, I've never been a Merlot-hater ("I'm not drinking any effing Merlot"), but those who think they are should try this.
I have to go finish getting dinner ready (an alfresco repast of curried chicken salad with grapes, celery, and sliced almonds, while waiting for the curtain to go up on King Lear). I had a different wine in mind for that, but this one should do nicely.
I'll be back later with more on this wine, but if you're still on the fence, you've got less than 9 hours to get down and push the buy button.

is their a link to the labrat report page or is it eyes-only? please post link,ty

ddeuddeg

Labrat update:
Bonnie got home in time to try the Merlot before we head to the park to see King Lear at the 2nd largest FREE outdoor Shakespeare festival in the US (We're both on the Board of Directors.). She picked up the same spiciness (pepper?) in the nose that I noticed, but she caught a whiff of cherry that I didn't get until I sipped it. We have drunk a lot of wine together, and tend to have similar taste, if only by chance. After tasting it (just a sip, really), she has pronounced it "full-bodied, smooth, I like it."
We'll be back later. Meanwhile, another vote for getting off the fence, and pressing that Buy button.

EDIT: I almost forgot, I used to play the trombone, too!

Always keep a bottle of Champagne in the fridge for special occasions. Sometimes the special occasion is that you've got a bottle of Champagne in the fridge. - Hester Browne
Filmmaker/winemaker Francis Ford Coppola says his two professions are almost the same and that each depends on source material and takes a lot of time to perfect.
The big difference: "Today's winemakers still worry about quality."

SonomaBouliste

clayfu wrote:or they have a style they prefer over another one , a style they prefer so much they they are bias against the style that is directly contrasting it.

I had two french winemakers tell me how much california wine is swill. Does that mean california wine is bad? I had a group of prominent california pinot producers hate on other pinots that are picked at a normal period of time opposed to the ultra ripe grape picking so many pinot producers do now.. is that bad?

just preference is all. I could honestly not care how long someone's been in the wine biz, we all have our preferences. One man's trash is another man's gold.

Actually, the others aren't in the biz, and we often don't agree on preference. We can agree whether a wine is well made but we just don't care for it. The wine in question was not well made, so this wasn't a matter of stylistic preference.

clayfu

SonomaBouliste wrote:Actually, the others aren't in the biz, and we often don't agree on preference. We can agree whether a wine is well made but we just don't care for it. The wine in question was not well made, so this wasn't a matter of stylistic preference.

you basically described a fruit bomb in your description. Some people actually like that kind of stuff.

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